Spring cleaning tips from a closet celebrity

It's the time of year to clean out the old, refresh and start anew. The season of second chances ... and we're just talking about your closets. Lisa Adams, the science major turned high-end celebrity closet guru and star of HGTV's "Million Dollar Closets" (Season 2 premieres May 18) shares tips on how to spring clean your closets and makeup drawers and why it's so important.

1. Less stress, more time

"People who are more organized are less stressed and have more time," says Adams, who also owns LA Closet Design. Time spent looking for stuff, including the shoe, jewelry or scarf that have disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle that is your closet can add up to hundreds of wasted minutes a year.

"Clients say over and over that they don't know what they have in the closet. They get stressed and tend to wear the same things over and over because they can't see it," Adams says.

2. Add value to your house

People come to Adams to get organized, "But it's also about resale," she says. "A custom closet can add value to your house."

Manhattan Beach real estate agent Dave Fratello, author of the popular MB Confidential blog, agrees. "In our market, high-end buyers expect everything to be perfect, naturally. That means a top-flight kitchen that hits all the big notes, a huge master bath and big closets, often his and hers in the master if space allows," Fratello says. "To me, custom closets are part of a whole package of items that go beyond the expected and push the buyer to say, 'This one really has it all.' When your listing has that combination, you can get your top price."

3. Little improvements that make a big difference

Adams' biggest spring cleaning tip: "So many people pull something out of their closet, see that it has a stain and put it back," she says. Instead, put separate liners in closet drawers, or other designated places, for: regular laundry, dry cleaning and alterations, and clothes to go to Goodwill or purge because they're stained. "That way, you take action right now and don't put something back in your closet that shouldn't be there," Adams says. Other closet-refreshing tips include:

•Buy matching hangers and face them all in the same direction.

•Store out-of-season and overflow clothing in either a separate room or on a high shelf.

•Buy drawer-dividers to organize socks, cosmetics, etc.

•Instead of chemical-laden mothballs to get rid of bugs, "use lavender and cedar," Adams says. "There are so many great products right now, like drawer liners and sachets, to use instead."

4. Make an investment

Adams' clients are super-wealthy and her customized closets aren't cheap. Her work ranges "from $20,000 to $300,000," she says. Her designs maximize space and address architectural and structural needs, such as the Orange County home near the water that required specific building materials because of high moisture. Specific requests or needs can run the gamut: One Orange County client requested a refrigerator just for fur coats.

A current trend is "His" and "Her" closets. "For the man, it's become the new kind of man cave where people have requested dark wood, speakers and even a cigar display," Adams says. "For the woman, she can be as feminine as she wants, and clients have requested closets that are pink and crystal-y."

The most over-the-top closet she's done is a three-story closet in Beverly Hills replete with an island on each floor and a safe room with an iris scanner.

5. Stop buying so much stuff

"Most closets are too cluttered. There's not enough lighting and things are jam-packed," Adams says. "Things are so smashed that you can't see a black top from a navy top, everything is wrinkled." She says people have a hard time letting go of stuff. The rise of super-cheap clothing, like H&M, means "even if your closet is at the max of what it can hold, you buy a shirt because it's only $10, not because you really need it."

Rather than big quarterly or yearly purges, an easy clutter-fix is every time something comes in the house, something should go out.

6. Enjoy what you have

Adams' work is part organizational, part closet design and sometimes part therapy session. "I do an editing and purging session with every client," she says. "Before we move back into the closet, I take inventory and say: this is what you have, this is how much space you have, this is what you can fit in the new closet comfortably, so that we're not in a new, beautiful closet but it's just as cluttered."